New research indicates that firms combining the science based STI (Science, Tecchnology, Innovation) and the practical, experience based DUI (Doing, Using, Interacting) mode of innovation are more efficient when it comes to improving innovation performance and competitiveness. With regard to innovation policy, the STI mode calls for a supply driven policy, for example with the aim to commercialise research results and diffuse scientific knowledge to firms. The DUI mode suggests a demand driven policy approach, such as to supporting the development of new products or services in firms meant for a specific customer. This paper analyses the capacity of combining the two types of innovation policy and the two innovation modes on firm level as well as on the regional level. The paper analyses innovation processes and policy formulation in NCE Culinology, which is one of 12 Norwegian Centres of Expertise. NCE Culinology includes more than 100 actors in the food industry in the Stavanger region in Norway, and is run as a kind of a cluster project. The main aim is to strengthen the knowledge and innovation capacity in the field of gastronomy and culinary differentiation. The case should fit well to the paper’s research question as the Stavanger region includes a number of R&D institutes in food processing (which gives a potential for STI innovation) while the food industry is categorised as a low tech sector where the DUI mode of innovation is deemed to be important. Based on knowledge about innovation processes in the food industry in Stavanger, the paper discusses the possibilities for designing policies that link the STI and DUI modes of innovation in firms and in the regional industry.